Let the madness begin.....

I left the last post with us dropping Jay off at the airport on the morning of Friday, April 5th.  Well, Sean was the one who actually took him to the airport.  I had other commitments that morning.  Aubrey had her beach carnival for school.  All the kids from Kindy to Year 2 were bused down to Balmoral Beach for a morning of playing games in the sand.  We weren't sure if it was going to happen since it had been pouring rain for the previous 2 days.  But, unbelievably, it was a gorgeous day.  Aubrey had a great time.  She said her favorite thing was the three-legged race.  

First game of the morning: the teams were battling to see who would fill their bucket up with water first.

Aubrey waiting for her turn

Second game: Aubrey had her leg strapped to her mate's leg for the three-legged race.  Her and Max were trying to move in unison.  It was hilarious!

Third game: racing in the sand to grab a stick and bring it back

That same morning, after Sean dropped Jay off, he picked up the keys to our new apartment.  Sean and I still hadn't quite wrapped our brain around everything that needed to be done in the coming days.  I kept thinking "we don't have that much to move" and "our apartment isn't that big".  I didn't think the move would be very bad.  I was in such denial that I hadn't even packed a box yet.

So, Sean and I took a leisurely lunch Friday and then strolled over to the new apartment.  When we got into the apartment and looked around, we realized the last owners had not really cleaned it adequately.  It wasn't trashed, but it was far from clean.  Did I mention that we hadn't even packed anything at our old apartment yet?  Oh yeah, also Carter had soccer practice that night and then a soccer game the next morning?  And the removalists (i.e. movers) were coming the very next morning as well?  And Sean's parents were flying in to visit us the day after that?  It suddenly hit us that we were in deep, deep trouble.

I was seriously on the verge of a nervous breakdown at school pickup that Friday.  Then, when Aubrey walked up to me that afternoon, she announced that she received the Star of the Week.  It was a really nice honor.  However,  it meant that we had to bring Henry the Hippo home for the weekend, take pictures of him everywhere we went, and put together a two page printout of all the photos.  Of course, Aubrey was very excited about it.  Mommy, on the other hand, was ready to cry.

I can look back on all that now and laugh.  But, I was FAR from laughing on that Friday.  Carter made it to his soccer activities.  We took some great photos of Henry the Hippo in the middle of our mayhem.  Sean and I had some very late nights and probably gained a few grey hairs.  But, it all got done and everything worked out in the end.  Things generally have a way of doing that.

Aubrey hamming it up with Henry at Carter's soccer practice

Aubrey posing with Henry at Balmoral Beach after Carter's practice

Carter even got into it!

Aubrey feeding Henry fish and chips

Henry in the middle of our moving madness

Henry at Carter's first soccer game of the winter season

Henry was eating very well this weekend!  Pizza at Fratelli's.  Yum!!

Papa, Aubrey, and Henry on the bus on Sunday morning

Our lives were still in a little bit of mess when Sean's parents came on Sunday.  But, it was so nice to see them.  And, they actually helped us out quite a bit with the end of our move when we were trying to drag all the small stuff from our old apartment to the new one.  It really helped that they were not trying to stay with us in our apartment in the middle in our chaos.  They had rented their own apartment for the time they were here. And, just by sheer luck, the apartment they rented was in the same building as our new apartment.  It was awesome to have them so close.  Terry even enjoyed taking over the task of walking the kids to school for me every morning.    

We are now really happy with our new apartment.  It is about the same distance to walk to school as our old place.  But, it is located in Cremorne (about a 15 minute walk closer to the city).  It has two stories and we feel a little more spread out in the new place, even though we decreased from 3 bedrooms to 2 bedrooms.  It has loads of storage, which is very nice (including a walk-in closet in the master suite!!).  AND it is less expensive than the old place.  One of the things that Sean and I also love is that it is more centrally located to a grocery store, cafes, and restaurants  (across the street).  Even though all these amenities are so close to us, the noise outside from traffic is minimal.  We mainly just hear the birds outside when we open the windows.  That is such a nice change from the old place where we couldn't have the balcony doors open when we wanted to watch television because the road noise was too loud.

Enough about the move though.  I am learning that no matter how much stuff you think you have, moves are always a hassle.  I guess it is like most hard things that you know you will probably have to do again in your lifetime; it is best to try to forget about it as soon as possible.  Maybe that is part of the reason I have underestimated each of our moves.  By forgetting what a pain in a butt it is to move, I am more open to doing it again the next time.  And, it is good to be open to that change, because we have been pleased with the completion of each move as they have generally brought us to a better situation than where we were before.   

Sean's parents did spend the first couple of days in Sydney helping us out.  But, we did also squeeze in a little sightseeing.  I got to be the tour guide again this week since Sean had to work and the kids were in school each day.  Monday morning was a fabulous start when I took them to brunch at Burnt Orange in Mosman after school drop off.  We had brunch out on a large verandah overlooking the harbour on a clear, crisp morning.  It just doesn't get much better than that.  During the course of that week, we toured the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday, met Sean for lunch at a fantastic tapas restaurant in Kirribilli on Wednesday, and spent Thursday in Manly (on Terry's birthday). 

Terry and Margi at Circular Quay (outside the Sydney Opera House)

Terry and Margi after our tour at the Sydney Opera House

Terry and Margi putting their feet in the sand at Manly Beach

I did have to take the day off of being a tour guide on Friday so that I could organize the new apartment a bit and pack for our holiday.  Friday was the last day of the school term, so the kids had 2 weeks off after that.  And, I needed a moment to catch my breath before we flew off to Cairns the next day......  

Aubrey on the last day of term.  The Kindy classes had a party to celebrate getting through all the letters of the alphabet.  The kids were supposed to dress up as something that begins with their favorite letter.

  

  

First visitor!

I will first off apologize for the amount of time between blog posts.  I'm not sure what happened.  Well, actually a lot happened (visitors, moved apartments, took a trip).  Then, I was exhausted from everything that happened.  So, I had to spend some quality downtime with myself.  Things have quite settled down now, so I am going to try to catch everyone up.  

The first big event was that we had our first visitor from the States!!  Jay, Sean's best friend from Kansas City, arrived in Sydney on Saturday, March 30th.  We picked him up at the airport that morning.  He wasn't looking too worse for the wear after the 15 1/2 hour flight from Dallas.  So, we headed to Bondi Beach straight from the airport.  Sean and I still have fond memories of seeing Bondi Beach on our very first day in Sydney in March 2012.  It is a great cure for jet lag.  I  think Jay enjoyed it.  The rest of that day we spent hanging around Mosman showing Jay some of our local haunts, like Balmoral Beach.  We ended the day with dinner at Hotel Mosman; the home of the $7.90 steak.  It is one of the best deals you will find in Sydney for a restaurant meal.  Additionally, it is Carter's favorite place to eat and we still owed him his birthday meal out.  Everything had been closed the day before, on his birthday, since it was Good Friday.


The day after Jay arrived was Easter Sunday.  The Easter bunny found us again this year!  Luckily, the Easter bunny learned from previous mistakes.   She now knows that stores are open very limited hours on Easter weekend in Australia.  So, she was prepared and did not wait until the last second to buy Easter goodies.
    

Baskets after the visit from the Easter bunny.  The kids painted the Easter chicks on the sides.

Yum!

Carter doing his Easter activity book.  

Carter left us a nice note on his new Etch-A-Sketch

We headed back to the Bondi area after our Easter celebrations.  It was the only time during Jay's trip that we could fit in the Coogee to Bondi Coastal walk.  I have been anxious to do this walk for a second time.  The one time we tried to do it, we had to abandon the walk early due to the weather.  This time the weather held out for us.  It wasn't the sunniest of days, but it was still pleasant.

Sean and Jay

  

Love all the varied views along the path!

Jay helped us to capture a family photo.

Smile!

Jay getting ready to practice his cliff diving technique.

While on the walk, we saw two A380 planes flying extremely close to each other.  We were not sure what it was about at the time.  Once we got home, we learned it was a Qantus plane and an Emirates plane flying together to signify their new partnership.

That night Sean, Jay, and our friend Mike, went to a Sydney Waratah rugby game.  Jay played rugby in high school, so this was something he had really been looking forward to. They had front row seats at the game.  When I asked Sean about it, all he said was "it was awesome".  

Sean had Monday off of work as it was Easter Monday. We took Jay on a whirlwind tour of Sydney.  We started by eating breakfast at our favorite morning spot in Mosman, Cafe Prego.  After our bellies were full, we walked to the zoo.  We took the sky safari over the zoo to the Taronga Zoo Wharf for the ferry.  We then took the ferry into Circular Quay and walked to the Sydney Tower Eye in the CBD.  After going up the tower, we went back to Circular Quay and took a ferry to Manly Beach.  We hung out there for a little bit and then took a bus back home.  Whew.  I'm tired just writing about it. 

View from the sky safari; the Sydney Tower Eye is the tallest tower amongst the skyscrapers.  It has the shape of a Q-tip.  

It is hard to beat the views on the ferry as we cross the harbour.  

Carter was loving the breezes outside on the ferry.

Sydney Eye Tower, here we come!

Carter posing with the city of Sydney 260 meters (or 853 feet) below him.

View of the harbour from the Sydney Eye Tower

Manly Beach at the end of a very busy Easter weekend

Sean had to go back to work on Tuesday, so I got to fill in as tour guide for Jay.  On Tuesday, Jay headed back to Manly Beach for a day of open water scuba diving.  He got lucky that day, the weather was picture perfect.

On Wednesday, the rain started.  That put a hamper in our plans for the last two days of Jay's visit.  So much of what we do in Sydney revolves around walking outside and seeing beautiful views.  Neither of those are nearly as nice when it is pouring rain.  We tried to make the most of it though.  

On Wednesday, Jay and I met up with Sean for lunch.  We then headed into the city so that Jay could do a little souvenir shopping.  On Thursday, we went to Darling Harbour.  Jay and I went through the Maritime Museum, ate lunch at Margaritaville, and walked around the Rocks area a little bit.  The rain finally let up some, so we decided to walk back towards home across the Harbour Bridge.  Unfortunately, it wasn't the best idea.  The rain started again full force when we were just far enough that we were committed to go ahead and walk across the entire bridge.  You know it is raining hard when you have an umbrella and you still get soaked.  Thanks to the rotten weather, we didn't take a lot of pictures towards the end of Jay's trip.  But, I did manage to snap a few in the rain breaks.

Jay in the captain's chair on one of the ships

View from Darling Harbour on a rainy day

It was great to have Jay here.  We were sad to see him off to the airport on Friday.  There is so much to do and see in Sydney; one week flew by.  He is already discussing a possible return visit while we are still living here.

Of course, our minds were kind of buzzing even as we were saying goodbye to Jay.  We were moving into a new apartment the next day and we were getting ready to welcome Sean's parents to Sydney in two days.  But, more on that later...... 

And a Year Later......

So many thoughts go through my head a year after our move to Sydney.  I've thought a lot about my emotions a year ago.  I was so excited, but so scared.  The furthest move either Sean or I had ever made was about 135 miles.  Then, we decided to move 9,000 miles to another country with our 2 young kids.  There were so many unknowns and there were so many things to learn.  Would I make the same choice again?  Without a doubt.  Do I wish I could go back in time to a year ago?  No way.  

We had so many decisions to make in such a short period of time.  I look back at all these decisions now and I just wonder how we got so lucky.  Even with all the research we did prior to the move, there was so much we didn't know.  There were so many factors that we could not account for.  I'm not saying that everything has worked out perfectly, but more has worked out in our favor than not.  The right opportunities opened up at the right time.  When I look back at how things fell into place, I believe it was more than just serendipity.  I think we had a little help from a stronger power.

It is now a year later.  In some ways we are a little wiser, but of course we still never know what challenges await us.  I haven't been writing much lately because we have just been getting in the groove of both kids at school and settling into our new routine.  We have been in a little lull.  Perhaps, it is better described as a calm before the storm.  With April comes visitors, moving to a new apartment, and a trip to Cairns (to see the Great Barrier Reef).  We have to fit in a little "normal" life in between the vacations.  

One exciting thing has recently happened - Carter had his 8th birthday!  He was very happy to have a birthday party this year because he kind of felt like he got the short end of the stick last year.  Since he turned 7 within a week of our move last year, he didn't get to celebrate quite how he wanted.  This year, he invited a few friends for laser tag and bowling and a friend of ours made an awesome bowling cake for the party.  He had a fantastic day.  We didn't get many good shots of the celebration though; the location was kind of dark and the boys were too busy to stay still for pictures.   

Carter with his cake.

Carter's actual birthday fell on Good Friday.  As Australia takes a true four day weekend for Easter, no one had work or school that day.  Carter got up that morning and opened his presents.  He got Legos and an Etch-A-Sketch.  Carter was thrilled with both.  He is really enjoying his old school Etch-A-Sketch.  And the Lego set is just a plain set that he can build anything his little creative mind desires.  He enjoys that because as he said to me about the other Lego sets: "I want to build a motor home and the other sets won't let me build a motor home." 

Birthday morning!

Later in the day, we went for a walk to Cremorne Point and had lunch with some of our friends.  The weather turned out to be kind of chilly and cloudy, but we didn't let that ruin our day.  It made it feel more similar to a spring Easter day in the northern hemisphere.  Carter said this was his best birthday yet! 
  

Family picture at Cremorne Point on Good Friday

If there was one skill that out family has had to learn over the past year, it would be adapting to change.  That is one thing that does not always come easily.  We are learning to live in the moment.  I think about that even more now that we are halfway through our two year adventure.  We still have so much to see and experience in Australia.  We have set up our home away from home in one apartment and next week we are picking it all up and moving it to another apartment.  We have made many friends and we have already had to say goodbye to friends that have moved on.  It is a good reminder of what a transient thing this life is.  

Some of our good friends that we picnicked with on Good Friday.  We all have a limited amount of time in this country and we are trying to make the most of the time we have. 

Changes, Changes, Changes

We all have been adjusting to the new routine of a new school year.  It is quite a change from the lazy days of the summer holidays back in January.  Even though it has been a little tiring; this has been a welcome change to bring consistency back to our lives.  Plus, I am enjoying my child-free time while both kids are at school.  I've kept pretty busy so far; mostly by catching up on some errands and cleaning that I had put off over the holidays.  I have now completed most of these tasks and am fully prepared to enjoy some time to myself.  I have started to take at least one bush walk a week during school hours.  That is one of my favorite activities in Sydney.  It is the perfect mix of getting exercise while enjoying the views and spending time with friends.

Carter started Year 3 on January 30. Aubrey had to wait another day until she could start Kindy.  That was bittersweet as it gave me one more day with Aubrey, but she was anxious to begin her adventure at school.  She was so excited when she finally got to put on her uniform and head off to "big school".

Carter on his first day of school

Aubrey all ready to go on her special day

Both kids heading off to school

Aubrey sitting with her class. The kids are wearing their yellow sport uniform on this day.  All the kids sit under the sun shelter when the bell rings in the morning.  Carter is in the photo also - he is in the middle almost to the back.  Good luck trying to find him!

School has been going really well so far.  Aubrey is absolutely loving it even though she is very tired when she gets home, especially towards the end of the week.  She is starting to make friends.  She even gets excited doing her little "home readers" every evening.  Her Kindy teacher seems very sweet and I think it will be a very nurturing environment for her to begin her academic career.  

Carter got a pretty tough teacher for Year 3.  In Australia, as well as in the US from what I understand, Year 3 is a very formative year for the students.  It is a time when they expect the kids to become more independent students.  Carter is really liking it so far even though much more is being expected of him.  I'm a little proud of him when he takes his homework out of his bag every night and goes off to his desk to complete it.  

Children change a great deal every year, but I have a feeling that this will be a year of monumental changes for Carter and Aubrey.  They are both growing up so much.  That makes me very happy for the most part.  I love seeing the kids come into their own.  But, of course, it also makes me nostalgic. 

Aubrey also celebrated her 5th birthday this month.  This happened within the first week of her starting school, so we kept the celebrations relatively low key.  We invited her friend, Audrey, to Build a Bear at a local mall.  The kids had a blast.  Aubrey's gift from us was a body board that she named "Sandy".  She got the chance to go the beach 2 times in the week after her birthday to try her new board out.  Needless to say, she had a fabulous week.

Audrey and Aubrey

Daddy helping Aubrey dress her bear

Cupcakes after Build a Bear.  Yum!!

Aubrey on her body board 

The kids standing next to a flock of cockatoos.  We just finished playing on the beach at Manly Wharf.

Now that Aubrey is so grown up, she decided to take matters into her own hands when her hair was getting in her face while coloring the next week.  So, 30 minutes before we were to leave for school, I found her out on the balcony with her hair chopped.  It was a hectic morning trying to clean that up and get to school on time, but it all turned out okay.  It was actually a blessing in disguise.  I just tidied up the hair she missed in the very back and she now has a cute bob!! We didn't even need to take her anywhere to get it finished by a professional.  Now, we just have to make sure she doesn't get any more grand ideas with a pair of scissors in her hands!!

Post-haircut.  Pre-Mommy fix.

Look at all those beautiful locks of hair!!

The final product!!

This week was the last week of Carter's summer soccer season.  His team had a lot of heart, but they did not have a lot of luck when it came to winning games.  It didn't matter though; they had a wonderful time playing (and learning) the game of soccer.  He now gets a couple of months off before the winter season starts.  Soccer is considered more of a "winter" sport here in Sydney, so it will be a little more full-on when it starts again.  He is already looking forward to it.

The Mosman Magpies

We are winding down to the final days of summer in Australia.  Even though we have been here for 11 months, it still feels odd to me that the Midwest is getting blasted with a winter storm while I sit here writing this blog on a warm summer day.  I have been seeing multiple pictures on Facebook and reading everyone's stories about the horrible traffic.  I've been thinking about all of my friends and family back home today.  I can't believe it has been almost a year since I was working at North Kansas City Hospital.  If I was still living in Kansas City, I would be out there on those treacherous roads, especially since hospital workers don't get snow days.  I think I will take summer over that!!    

Happy Australia Day!!

We celebrated Australia Day on January 26th.  This holiday commemorates the establishment of the first settlement at Port Jackson (in Sydney) in 1788.  It is a day filled with festivities around the city.  Many people have picnics in parks and beaches.  Then, there are fireworks held in different locations around the city that night.  

In addition to the Australia Day celebrations, we also had two birthday parties to attend during the day on Saturday.  We were having a great day until Sean went down to our car park and realized that his almost brand new bicycle had been stolen from where he had it locked up.  That put a damper on our mood, but we picked ourselves up and tried to get back into the spirit.  Luckily, we didn't let it stop us from heading down to Darling Harbour with friends to join in the festivities.  I'm so glad we did; it was a fun night out.

Darling Harbour was just a little crowded

The firework platform was set up in the middle of the harbour.  We stood on the bridge (where the red flags are in the distance) to watch the fireworks.

Showtime!

It was a spectacular display.  We would think it was the big finale and then after a moment the fireworks would start again.  Gorgeous!!

Thought I'd end the post with a photo I found on the camera.  Sean was teaching Carter how to use the remote to take a picture.  It makes me think about how much I love these little captured moments in time.